Should I let my 9 year old play out?

Should I let my 9 year old play out?

Hi all,
At what age did you allow your children to walk to school, play out with friends, or pop to the shop?
My daughter is 9, (10 in January). We don't live on a busy high street, but it is a 'through' road. To walk to the school, local shop or park around the corner she would only need to cross our road, the rest of the way is a dead end road and cul de sac so I assume she will be safe, providing she only goes to those areas I allow.
Some of her friends play out and that's why my husband and I are curious about what the majority of parents do.
Cheers xx

I would live to hear the replies to this. I'm also wondering the same. In my opinion my eldest is to young to yet - he is only 6. However there are children in our area in the same year as him at school who play out on our street with their friends. This means my son is asking to go out but I'm not prepared to let him as I don't feel he is old enough to yet.

I think somewhere around the age of 9-10 it is worth letting DC have a little more freedom to go out within set limits. You have to think about what will happen for going up to senior school at 11. My DD has to travel by public bus along with a group of friends. She was nervous to begin with but she has coped fine. She started going out with friends at 9-10. DS is 10 and He does not want to play out especially but he has walked round to a friend's house after school and I let him stay in the house on his own if i pop out to shops etc. It does depend on where you live as well.

My son is 8 and for around the past year has been allowed to play out with his friends. He has set boundaries of where he is allowed to go and we always make sure we know where who he is playing out with. He doesnt walk to school on his own yet (were planning on letting him when he starts yr6) and he doesnt go to the local shop on his own yet either as there is usually lots of of other children/youths hanging around there which we dont want him getting involved with.
I guess theres no set answer to this question it all comes down to you as parents, your child and where you live. x

My LO was 8 when we first let him start playing out! I use to sit at the back door listening out for him ! It's hard at first, he has now just left primary school and for the last 6 months has been walking the 2 miles back from school (so age 10) though the town and across 2 main roads. He starts secondary in September and has a 10 mile bus journey there, so this was all part of his training!
I noticed he grow up and became more street wise within the first 6 months of going out!
I feel that those who are kept in doors into their teens will struggle when they do start to go out, as it wont be just on your street.

Hi, my eldest was quite young when he was first allowed to play out, I think he was 5 or 6, but we've always lived in cul due sacs which are fairly quiet, and always had neighbour's children to play with (actually in all the houses we've lived in we've had older children around us so I was OK about it)

I think its different for boys because I'm more - not strict as such - shall we say inflexible when it comes to allowing my daughters out. My eldest DD is 8 and she is allowed 'round the block' with her older friends but youngest DD is 5 and I like her to have an adult with her, even if she's just playing out the front.

Preperation

Thanks for the replies guys, it's nice to hear other peoples opinions.
So if I do allow this to go ahead how do I prepare? I'm thinking she'll need a mobile phone so we can keep in touch, but I don't want to keep buying her credit for her to waste on friends. What if I don't put credit on, at least then I can get hold of her and if she needs me she could reverse the charges I guess?

Yes, asking as u lay Down ground rules and give her boundaries, and she is educated about "stranger danger" i think its an essential part of having a happy child hood to let ur child play out and be a child. My daughter is also 9 she plays in and around our cul-de-sac and gos to our corner shop, she lives the little bit of freedom and doesn't break the rules as she knows she won't be allowed out for a while x

This is a new experience for us this summer, learning as we go along, DD is just 9.

We have a cycle path just out the back of the house, last summer we let DD cycle down there to a set location and back providing we were around in the front garden. Gradually we let her do 2 or 3 laps before checking in.

This summer she's met up with a group of children around the same age (8 - 10) so they are all cycling out together. She wears her watch and checks in every hour. I keep an eye out and generally see the group come round more often than that.

There have been differences in boundaries which we are having to negotiate. Eg I'm not happy with her crossing the main roads to go to the shop or park which some of the others are but she seems to have accepted them without much fuss. It a new experience her wanting to go over to peoples houses when I haven't met the parents, and brining back friends when again I haven't met the parents.

The biggest issue has been that DS wants to join them, there are a few younger children who come out with their older siblings but there is no way I think DS is ready for that amount of freedom.

DD1 will be turning 12 in September. She has been allowed freedom round our whole estate (everything within walking distance) since this time last Summer. She is allowed to go to the library, the local shops and to the leisure centre swimming with friends. She will be starting high school in September and will be walking to and from school by herself or with friends.

DD2 is 8, 9 in October. She is allowed out in our street to play between two certain check points and she is allowed to call for a friend who lives around the corner from us. If she calls for the friend round the corner she is allowed to stay in her garden to play. If her friend is not allowed out for whatever reason she has to come straight back to tell us she is back in our street. She is also allowed to go to the corner shop with DD1 but not alone.

DS has just turned 6. He is allowed out only in our front garden and next door's front garden with the little girl there. He is also allowed in the front garden over the road with the girls if they're willing to let him play with them, but he's not allowed to cross the road by himself.

I think you have to take the maturity of each child into consideration, how busy the street is with traffic, etc.